Termite bait station

ABSTRACT

The invention provides a method and apparatus for controlling termites. The invention provides a tamper resistant bait station, which uses a cellulose bait impregnated with a slow acting toxicant and readily allows entry of termite.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/420,275filed Apr. 11, 1995 now abandoned.

The present invention relates generally to the control of termites andother social insects. In particular, the present invention relates tothe control of such insects using an apparatus containing baitimpregnated with a slow acting toxicant. For a discussion of socialinsects, see generally U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,992. That patent isincorporated by reference herein to the extent it discusses socialinsects and their habits.

In the prior art, various techniques of spraying fast actinginsecticides in a structure are used to eliminate social insects such astermites in the structure. For eliminating social insects in the ground,tubular instruments with a small surface area to volume ratio were used.

It is an object of the invention to provide an apparatus and method foreliminating social insects such as termites in a structure.

It is another object of the invention to provide an apparatus and methodfor eliminating social insects in the ground.

The invention provides a method and apparatus for mounting within or ona structure to eliminate social insects such as termites. The inventionuses a cellulose bait impregnated with a slow acting toxicant held in atamper resistant container, which is placed within or mounted on thestructure. The tamper resistant container, makes the container safe touse around children and still allows termite entry. Another embodimentof the invention provides an apparatus with a large surface area tointercept social insects in the ground moving in a generally horizontaldirection.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of an inventivebait station.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the bait station in FIG. 1 along lines2--2.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the bait station in FIG. 1, in a flippedposition.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the bait station in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the bait station in FIG. 1 mounted in astructure.

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of another preferred embodiment of a baitstation.

FIG. 7 is an exploded view of a preferred embodiment of a outdoorstation.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of the use of the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is an exploded view of another preferred embodiment of outdoorstation.

In FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4 a bait station 10 has an outer cover 11, comprisingan opaque plastic top cover 12 and a transparent plastic bottom cover13. The outer cover 11, forms a flat box shape, with the top cover 12forming five sides of the flat box and the bottom cover 13 forming oneside of the flat box. One side of the top cover 12 and the bottom cover13 form the sides of the flat box with the greatest area. Between thetop cover 12 and the bottom cover 13 is a piece of a cardboard substrate16 impregnated with a slow acting toxicant such as sulfluramid. In thespecification and claims, a slow acting toxicant is defined as atoxicant that requires longer than 24 hours and less than 2160 hoursafter ingestion of a termiticidally effective amount to kill a termite.The cardboard 16 is surrounded by the top cover 12 and the bottom cover13. The top cover 12 is welded to the bottom cover 13 forming the tamperresistant outer cover 11.

The top cover 12 has a plurality of top cover screw holes 17. Thecardboard 16 has a plurality of cardboard screw holes 18, which matewith the top cover screw holes 17. A plurality of spacers 19 areprovided, with a spacer 19 in each cardboard screw hole 18. The bottomcover 13 has a plurality of bottom cover screw holes 20, which mate withthe cardboard screw holes 18. A plurality of screws 21 are provided witha screw 21 passing through a top cover screw hole 17 and its matingcardboard screw hole 18, and its mating bottom cover screw hole 20. Asthe screw 21 passes through the cardboard screw hole 18 it also passesthrough a spacer 19. The screws 21 provide a means for mounting the baitstation 10 to a structure. The heads of the screws 21 are speciallydesigned to make the bait station 10 tamper resistant.

The bottom cover 13 has a plurality of bottom cover apertures 23 in theshape of circles. Side apertures 24 are formed at the junction where thetop cover 12 and the bottom cover 13 meet. The bottom cover apertures 23and the side apertures 24 are smaller than the diameter of a child'sfinger, to prevent children from touching the cardboard 16, thus helpingto make the bait station tamper resistant.

The outer cover 11 has a length 26, a width 27, and a thickness 28. Toprovide a desirable surface area to volume ratio both the length 26 andwidth 27 are at least five times greater than the thickness 28 of theouter cover 11. To utilize this desirable surface area to volume ratio,the apertures 23, 24 extend substantially along the length and width ofthe outer cover 11.

In operation, an active termite tube in a structure is located. The baitstation 10 is mounted on the structure using the screws 21, so that thetermite tube openings align with the side apertures 24. FIG. 5 is aschematic view of a bait station 10 mounted on a structure 25. A termitetube 29 is located. Part of the termite tube is broken away to allowalignment of the side apertures 24 of the bait station 10 with thetermite tube 29. The termites will rebuild the termite tube into thebait station 10. Termites passing through the termite tube pass throughthe side apertures to the cardboard. The termites eat the cardboard,taking in the slow acting toxicant. The termites go back to the colonybefore the slow acting toxicant kills the termite, and shares thecardboard with the rest of the colony. This provides the slow actingtoxicant to the colony, thus killing the whole colony. Therefore theinvention provides a means for controlling a termite colony. Thecontrolling of a termite colony means any of the following: the killingof the whole colony, or stopping the destruction caused by the colony,or substantially eliminating the colony.

In an alternative method of operation, if termites are under the floorboards, a bait station 10 may be placed on the termites with the bottomcover 13 on the bottom. Termites would then enter the bait station 10through the bottom cover apertures 23. The termites again ingest thecardboard and the slow acting toxicant, taking the toxicant back to thecolony.

The transparent bottom allows the cardboard 16 to be viewed when thebait stations are removed from the structure. Viewing the cardboard 16allows the determination of the effectiveness of the location of thebait station 10, and whether the colony has been eradicated, and whetherthe bait station 10 or the cardboard substrate 16 needs replacing.

In FIG. 6 a bait station 30 has an outer cover 31, comprising a tintedtransparent plastic top cover 32, an opaque plastic bottom cover 33, andan opaque side cage 34 between the top cover 32 and bottom cover 33 andaround the outer edges of the top cover 32 and the bottom cover 33. Theouter cover 31, forms a flat box shape, with the top cover 32 forming aside of the flat box with the greatest area, and the bottom cover 33forming the other side of the flat box with the greatest area, and theside cage 34 forming the four sides of the flat box with the smallestareas. Between the top cover 32 and the bottom cover 33 and within theperimeter formed by the side cage 34 is a piece of cardboard 36impregnated with a slow acting toxicant such as sulfluramid. The sidecage 34 is welded to the bottom cover 33.

The top cover 32 has a plurality of top cover screw holes 37. Thecardboard 36 has a plurality of cardboard screw holes 38, which matewith the top cover screw holes 37. A plurality of spacers 39 areprovided, with a spacer 39 in each cardboard screw hole 38. The bottomcover 33 has a plurality of bottom cover screw holes 40, which mate withthe cardboard screw holes 38. A plurality of screws 41 are provided witha screw 41 passing through a top cover screw hole 37 and its matingcardboard screw hole 38, and its mating bottom cover screw hole 40. Asthe screw 41 passes through the cardboard screw hole 38 it also passesthrough a spacer 39. The screws 41 provide a means for mounting the baitstation 30 to a structure. The screws 41 also secure the top cover 32 tothe bottom cover 33 so that the edges of the top cover 32 press againstthe side cage 34 forming the outer cover 31 and making the outer cover31 tamper resistant. The heads of the screws 41 are square socket heads.

The bottom cover 33 has a plurality of bottom cover apertures 43 in theshape of slots. Side apertures 44 are formed at the junction where theside cage 34 and the bottom cover 33 meet. The bottom cover apertures 43and the side apertures 44 are small enough to prevent children fromtouching the cardboard 16, thus helping to make the bait station 30tamper resistant.

The operation of this bait station 30 is the same as the bait station 10above. The tinted transparent plastic top cover 32 allows inspection ofthe cardboard 36 without removing the bait station 30.

Another method of operation would provide screws 41 that are just longenough to reach from the top cover screw holes 37 to the bottom coverscrew holes 40. As the user mounts the bait station 30, a screw 41 isremoved and replaced with a longer screw. This allows longer screws 41to be used only where needed for mounting the bait station 41.

The cardboard 16, 36 in these embodiments may be replaced with othercellulose baits that are ingested by termites, such as paper or wood.The slow acting toxicant may be any toxicant that requires more than 24hours and less than 6 months after ingestion of a termiticidallyeffective amount to kill a termite. Slow acting toxicants useful in thepresent invention include, but are not limited to: boric acid/borate,hydramethylnon, macrolide antibiotics (e.g., spinosyn A and/or D,abamectin and milbemycin), insect growth regulators such as moltingdisrupters or juvenile hormone agonists/antagonists, biological agents(i.e., living organisms or their reproductive stages), protozoacides,known termiticides, slow acting poisons or mixtures thereof. Specificexamples of molting disrupters include chitin inhibitors, particularlybenzoylureas such as hexaflumuron. A preferred type of toxicant is theclass of compounds described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,921,696 and 5,177,107.Those patents are hereby incorporated by reference. A particularlypreferred toxicant of this class is sulfluramid. Other particularlypreferred toxicants are abamectin, hydramethylnon, hexaflumuron. Apreferred slow acting toxicant would be a toxicant that requires longerthan 96 hours and less than 720 hours after ingestion of atermiticidally effective amount of toxicant to kill a termite. Othermeans may be used to attach the bait station to a structure such as tapeor adhesive glue. In these embodiments to obtain a desired surface areato volume ratio, the outer container has a length, width and thickness,wherein the length and width of the outer container are both five timesgreater than the thickness of the outer container, and wherein theapertures extend along the length or width of the containers.

The amount of toxicant needed to control termites will vary, dependingon the particular toxicant used, but in general an amount between about1 and about 5,000 parts per million (ppm) of toxicant to bait will beutilized in the cellulose bait. For example, if sulfluramid is thetoxicant, an amount between about 10 and about 200 ppm may be used,preferably between about 50 and about 100 ppm, and if abamectin is thetoxicant, an amount between about 10 and about 200 ppm may be used,preferably between about 50 and about 100 ppm.

In a field test, a cardboard substrate was impregnated with sulfluramidat 100 ppm. and placed in an outer cover with apertures. The apertureswere aligned with at least one active termite tube in a structure andthe outer cover was mounted on the structure. In 13 structures controlwas obtained on an average of 72 days.

In FIG. 7 a outdoor station 50 has an outer box 51, comprising the body52, and a top cover 53. The outer box 51 has a length 55, width 56, andthickness 57, wherein the length 55 is at least ten times the thickness57, and wherein the width 56 is at least five times the thickness 57.The body 52 has a plurality of apertures 60 which extend along the sideof the body 52 defined by the length 55 and width 56 of the outer box51. The body 52 has a plurality of screw holes 61. The top cover 53,which extends along the length 55 and thickness 57 of the outer box 51has a plurality of screw holes 65, which mate with the screw holes 61 ofthe body 52. A plurality of screws 66 are provided to pass through thescrew holes 65 of the top cover 53 and screw into the screw holes 61 ofthe body 52.

A bait holder 70 also has a box shape, and is small enough to fit intothe outer box 51. The bait holder 70 has a plurality of apertures 72.Cellulose bait 73 impregnated with a slow acting toxicant is placed inthe bait holder 70. The bait holder 70 has a plurality of foldable tabs67 to allow easier removal of the bait holder 70 from the body 52. Othermeans may be provided to facilitate the bait holder 70 from the body 52.

FIG. 8 is a schematic illustration a plurality of the outdoor stationsin operation. Adjacent to a structure 77, there may be areas that have ahigher chance of attracting termites, such as near a water source suchas a faucet 78. A U-shaped trench is made around the area of the faucet78 and three bodies 52 of outer boxes 51 are placed in the trenches. Abait holder 70 (FIG. 7) is then placed in each body 52 of an outer box51. A top cover 53 is then secured to each body 52 by the screws 66. Ona periodic basis, possibly every three months, the screws 66 areremoved, the bait holder 70 is also removed and inspected. If thecellulose bait 73 is intact, the bait holder 70 is put back in the body52 and the top cover 53 is resecured. If the cellulose bait 73 needsreplacing, a new bait holder 70 with new cellulose bait 73 is placed inthe body 52. The periodic inspection allows the monitoring for termites.

As in the previous embodiments, the slow acting toxicant in thecellulose bait 73 allows for the control of an entire colony. The highsurface area to volume ratio, due to the ratio between the length 55,width 56, and thickness 57 allows for a large surface area whichprotects against termites.

In another method of operation, the outer box 51 may be laid flat on theground and covered with mulch.

FIG. 9 is an exploded view of another outdoor station 81. The outdoorstation 81 has an outer box 82 with a body 83 and top cover 84. The body83 has a plurality of apertures 85. In this embodiment four baitstations 88, such as the bait station 30 shown in FIG. 6 are placed inthe outer box 82 to serve as bait holders and bait. The bait stations 88in this embodiment are identical to the bait stations 30 of theembodiment shown in FIG. 6. The shorter screws 41 are used for thispurpose. Foldable tabs 99 made of tape are placed on the bait stations88 to allow easy removal of the bait stations 88. The bait stations 88are placed so that the apertures 89 on the bottom of the bait stations88 face outward towards the apertures in the body 83. Securing screws1003 are supplied.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shown anddescribed herein, it will be appreciated that various changes andmodifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit ofthe invention as defined by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for controlling termites in astructure with a known location for active termite activity,comprising:a cellulose substrate impregnated with a slow actingtoxicant: an outer cover surrounding the cellulose substrate, whereinthe outer cover has a plurality of apertures, wherein a portion of theouter cover is transparent, wherein the outer cover has a length. width,and thickness, and wherein the length and width of the outer cover areboth at least five times the thickness of the outer cover, wherein someof the plurality of apertures are through edges of the outer cover; andmeans for mounting the outer cover on the structure at the knownlocation for active termite activity, wherein the means for mounting isconnected to the outer cover.
 2. The apparatus, as claimed in claim 1,wherein the means for mounting the outer cover comprises a plurality ofscrews, passing through the outer cover.
 3. The apparatus, as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the cellulose substrate is a flat piece of cardboard.4. The apparatus, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the slow actingtoxicant kills a termite in a time period between 96 hours and 720 hoursafter ingestion of a termiticidally effective amount of the toxicant bythe termite.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said substrate ispositioned within said cover to permit both ingress of a termite througha first aperture located on one side of said outer cover and egress ofsaid termite through a second aperture located on an opposite side ofsaid outer cover.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said some of theplurality of apertures are positioned at edges of the outer cover.
 7. Amethod for controlling termites in a structure with a known location foractive termite activity, comprising the steps of:locating an activetermite tube in the structure; and placing an apparatus for controllingtermites in a structure with a known location for active termiteactivity, comprising: a cellulose substrate impregnated with a slowacting toxicant; an outer cover surrounding the cellulose substrate,wherein the outer cover has a plurality of apertures; and means formounting the outer cover on the structure at the known location foractive termite activity, wherein the means for mounting is connected tothe outer cover, adjacent to the active termite tube, wherein the stepof placing an apparatus, comprises the steps of: removing part of theactive termite tube at a location creating a first opening and a secondopening in the termite tube; and placing the apparatus for controllingtermites in the location of the removed part of the termite tube andaligning a first aperture of the plurality of apertures with the firstopening in the active termite tube and aligning a second aperture of theplurality of apertures with the second opening in the active termitetube; and mounting the outer cover on a wall of the structure.
 8. Themethod, as claimed in claim 5, wherein the first aperture of theplurality of apertures is through an edge of the outer cover.
 9. Themethod of claim 7 wherein said substrate is positioned within said coverto permit both ingress of a termite through a first aperture located onone side of said outer cover and egress of said termite through a secondaperture located on an opposite side of said outer cover.
 10. The methodof claim 7 wherein some of said plurality of apertures are positioned atedges of the outer cover.